How to Retain Your People, part 2
by Allison Gross

In last week's article on the retention hierarchy, we talked about how to push the Start button for an effective retention program, and how to set goals. This week our series continues with the next steps in the hierarchy - how to recognize the people who meet these goals (as well as how to look for a staffing partner that will provide you with the people you need to grow your business).

Building on last week’s article, the third level of the hierarchy is almost an extension of the second. If you haven’t yet noticed, our hierarchy is based on recognition in the middle levels. People – and this is hardly rocket science - like to be recognized for their accomplishments. Quarterly, or every six months, you should consider holding employee gatherings (by shift) with awards based on key performance indicators (KPIs), attendance, and/or other areas important to your call center.

I know of one call center that inserts a little training during these gatherings by playing the best recorded customer call for the quarter. It’s usually something that exemplifies “going above and beyond,” and can be presented as an example of the type of service your center strives to provide. One of the rewards is simply being recognized. The recognition should be supplemented with some kind of award -- a certificate, a small monetary award, additional paid time off, or some combination.

At the top of the hierarchy are career paths. After all, if your employees are good at what they do, they probably want to progress to a higher level. If you provide the opportunity, odds are you’ll be able to retain those people.

Not everyone, of course, can be a line supervisor or a manager. But people – potential management material or not -- should feel valued for what they do and you can make that happen. You may want to consider putting levels in place to recognize longevity and productivity. For example, a call center may want to establish various CSR levels; i.e., I, II III. After all, someone who consistently exceeds goals and exhibits a winning attitude is worth more, and should be recognized both monetarily and with a title.

The title is, in many ways, more important than the money, because it recognizes that the employee has progressed within the company. This breeds pride of accomplishment, and again, a staffer who probably isn’t going to leave.

One cautionary note, however. Be sure to have more than one person decide on who receives promotions. Don’t make the mistake of promoting – especially to management or supervisory roles – based on longevity. Time served may be a great example of loyalty but it does not a manager make. In addition, keep in mind that not everyone wants to climb the ladder. Some people are quite content where they are, and satisfied to produce without the pressures of managing others.

Something that falls outside the hierarchy is the style of your line managers. Management style can have a major impact on whether employees stay or not. Nothing moves an employee out the door faster than perceived inequities in how rules are interpreted and applied. On the other hand, fairness builds trust and respect. Also remember that your employees spend as much time with their co-workers as they do with their families. If you overlook these intangibles, you put your staff in peril.

This is one other option to finding and retaining good people – you can have an expert do it for you. A good staffing partner can help you to find quality candidates and can save you a lot of money by becoming their employer of record and paying them as their own W-2 employees. When these partners do their job well, they can have a very positive impact on both recruiting and retention of quality workers.

You can also use a staffing services firm as the probationary hiring agent. In other words, for a period of from 90 to 180 days, let your staffing vendor be the actual employer for the worker (regardless of whether you found the candidate or they did). At some predetermined time, you have the opportunity to offer direct employment to the employee. How does this help in keeping good workers? Because it gives the employee another goal! If they do well, they’ll be offered a job with your company.

Your staffing partner should also use some of the retention techniques we’ve discussed. If you maintain a large contractor workforce through your staffing services vendor, see if that vendor can have an on-site representative. An on-site representative can help you deal with issues before they get to the point where an employee must be terminated. You’d be surprised to see how often contractor-employees search out the rep to discuss problematic issues whether related to a supervisor problem, shift or some other issue.

It’s generally much easier for a new employee to bring an issue to the attention of her advocate, rather than directly to a supervisor. This gives the on-site person the opportunity to nip a problem in the bud and gives the worker the invaluable impression that they have someone they can talk to. Bottom line? This can be very important to retaining good people.

You can keep good employees, if you commit yourself to doing so. Staff turnover doesn’t have to be an inescapable part of life. Follow the basics we’ve outlined and start to have some fun by being creative with the details. Then, rather than dealing with constant turnover, you’ll be able to focus on what you do best -- running a call center!

About the author
Allison Gross is Vice President of Comforce Corporation www.comforce.com, a $400 million public company involved in consulting and staffing for the call center industry. Based in Atlanta, GA, she works closely with major call centers all over the country, among them BellSouth, MBNA, and UPS, as well as numerous clients in the telecom, financial, hospitality, technology, and transportation industries. Allison Gross can be reached at (678) 812-2222, or at agross@comforce.com.